There are two main islands in the southeast quadrant. The first is in the southwest corner of the area, and as the SS Linebeck approaches, a cyclone lifts the ship and carries it off, soaking the engine so it’s stuck. A Massive Eye, a giant flying slug with six eyes on its sides, comes flying at the ship. Linebeck shows why he’s not an adventurer – he doesn’t realize the conspicuous eyes are the monster’s weak point. It shoots a bunch of projectiles at the ship, and those aren’t so bad, but it also makes ramming runs that are, as far as I can tell, unavoidable. Once the eyes have all been shot out, the Massive Eye flops back into the sea, leaving Link and Linebeck free to explore the island.
As Link sets foot on Goron Island, the first Goron he sees greets him by advising him to talk to everyone else. Talking to everyone involves clearing some Yellow ChuChus off a cliff with the bow, and getting a treasure chart as a reward. There’s also an ominous warning about Link possibly losing his shield and needing to replace it from the new store on the island. Once Link’s talked to everyone, Ciela pipes up that he’s done so and it’s time to visit the elder. The elder is Biggoron, and he’s bigger than the rest of the Gorons but not so towering that only part of him fits in the frame. Once he’s established that Link has introduced himself to everyone, he begins asking questions about the tribe and the island (for a fee of 20 rupees). The quiz calls to mind Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, including a lifeline (“Gorohint,” which removes an incorrect answer) and “Is that your ultimate answer?” Correct answers award rupees, but once everything’s done, there’s the matter of membership dues – the exact amount of rupees Link got for answering the questions. (He gets a Wisdom Gem, which he gets too keep.)
Biggoron says the pure metal’s in the nearby temple, and his son, Gongoron will show Link the way. Gongoron’s not thrilled about the newest member of the tribe, and runs off, defying Link to keep up. After heading the wrong way, Gongoron then goes past the Goron checkpoint and to the temple. The upper half of the island is a giant maze Link needs to navigate, finding a Power Gem along the way. The last obstacle before the temple is a Like Like, which tries to suck Link in. This gives an opening for Link to chuck bombs into their mouths.
The Goron Temple reintroduces Armos, who go inert after being hit by bombs and can be pushed around to hold floor switches down. On the second level of the temple, Link catches up to Gongoron, who got grabbed by monsters and thrown in the temple and is suddenly a lot nicer to Link. Link and Gongoron need to work together to advance, with the player alternately controlling both. After getting both Link and Gongoron to stand on switches, the treasure chest with the dungeon item appears, giving Link bombchus. I’ve never cared much for bombchus, but these are an exception: Link/the player gets to draw the path for them to travel, with them exploding at the end (or when they hit something). Once Link opens the way further down, Gongoron finds his own path, leaving Link alone to solve a series of bombchu and Armos puzzles. There’s a Power and Wisdom Gem to be found in the dungeon.
Gongoron returns in time to help Link fight the dungeon boss, Dongorongo [1], Armored Lizard. In the first phase, Gongoron has to knock Dongorongo over and then Link sends a bombchu over into its mouth from across a sand pit. Complicating matters, enemies constantly spawn and cross the sand to attack Link, so the player has to switch over to have Link deal with them if they get away from Gongoron. After a few hits, Dongorongo sits up and flops over, leading Gongoron to go ahead. But it didn’t explode into sand, so there’s one phase left. A bridge appeared across the sand for Link to cross, and now he can wait for Dongorongo to suck in air in preparation for a fire stream attack and add a bomb to its diet, then whack the newly exposed weak point on its back. After enough of this, Dongorongo goes down again, and this time he does explode.
Gongoron’s waiting for Link in the chamber with the Crimsonine, and apologizes to Link for thinking Dongorongo was defeated before it actually was. When Link takes the Crimsonine, Gongoron tells him to stop by his home to talk to Biggoron before leaving. Biggoron officially says Link can take the Crimsonine to make the Phantom Sword, and as a parting gift, gives him back the membership fee he paid earlier plus a bonus (a total of 200 rupees). Before leaving, Link stops off at the island store and buys a bombchu bag upgrade. After that, various stores around the islands start selling a heart container for 2000 rupees, but at this point Link’s swimming in rupees from selling off treasures and duplicate ship parts, so that’s not a big deal.
Next: Knights and knaves.
[1] I go back and forth between reading this as “Dongo Rongo” and “[Do]dongo” with “Goron” stuck in the middle.
